So, this is Emma's first week of school. EVER. I've been homeschooling her up to this point, but she headed out the door to middle school on Monday. I met with the nurse and her counselor a couple of weeks ago to talk through how things would work and then all of her teachers last week to introduce them to her diabetes. They are basically letting her do everything on her own - she stops in the clinic once a day right now just so the nurse can be familiar with her but then she's even going to stop that. So, lots of lessons learned this week: - Monday. The WiFi is horrible at the beginning of the school year. I wasn't getting her readings from her Dex, so I just asked her to text me her number before lunch. I didn't get a text but then I get a call from the school number - great, I'm thinking its the nurse calling to tell me something is wrong. Nope, it's Emma who called me because she was having trouble texting with the WiFi challenges. - Tuesday. So with the WiFi problems on Monday, my older son gave Emma a tip to help with battery power. So, when she got to school, she put her phone on airplane mode and then turned the WiFi on. Saved the battery but she forgot that airplane mode also turned off Bluetooth, so I wasn't getting readings. She realized it around lunch time and turned it on, so I got readings from then on. She texted me to let me know what time she had lunch, because we didn't know before hand. - Wednesday. So, the sensor was scheduled to restart around 9am, but I restarted it around 6am so she could calibrate with breakfast and we could get readings at school. All is well and good. I'm not getting readings for most of the morning, but I've stopped caring at this point. But then she texts me and tells me the sensor just isn't going to make it and its going to die. WELL, we hadn't discussed procedures for her remembering to do post-meal checks because we expected to have the dexcom. TO DO: Plan for non-sensor days and set up some alarms in her phone for checking. -Thursday. Getting good readings. Everything looks good and after a few days of running high due to the excitement, she's settling down. I watched as she was dropping, but I didn't want to text her. Wanted to see her handle it herself. So, I get a text from her asking if her meter was sitting on the desk in the kitchen. EEK! Yes, it was. She had put a new vial of strips in this morning and then forgot to put it back in her bag. I'm somewhat trapped in the house because I have a truck in my driveway and hoses running into the house because we're getting our ducts cleaned. I told her to just treat the low based on the Dexcom and go to the clinic before lunch and use the backup meter. Until I realized the backup meter is still sitting here in the kitchen - I had needed to replace the batteries so I hadn't taken it in yet. SO, I had to have the workmen move their truck so I could get out of the driveway and I run up to school to hand her her meter as she's changing classes and then take the backup meter into the clinic. TO DO: Build a packing checklist to make sure she has everything each day before she walks out of the house. Wonder what tomorrow will bring us? These are all pretty low-level issues but this is all new for us.
Sounds like you're doing a stellar job working out all the kinks that accompany every new school year!
I've found that school wifi usually is spotty at best, even the "good" wifi....not the "guest" one. I don't monitor my kiddo while he's in school. He won't answer texts anyway. Sounds like a productive first week!! LOL
Shannon: I'm sure I'll stop monitoring after a while. She's just never been away for 7 hours a day, every day. Especially with all of the adults she's around - no single one like when we were in co-ops or when she's in dance class. Today has been good so far, readings right where we expected and I've been getting them pretty regularly. I imagine after she starts PE and we figure out how to adjust her basal, I'll stop monitoring so much. It's just second nature now to be her "backup" for diabetes management.
I couldn't help but laugh when you said "I'm not getting readings for most of the morning, but I've stopped caring at this point." I think that's how we've all felt at one point or another. I could only follow my son for a day before I turned it off, lol. But I completely understand your situation, given the fact that this is her first year in public school. It sounds like she handled it like a champ. And what is the deal with Dexcom sensors lately? I'm lucky if we get 8-10 days anymore. We were spoiled with 21+ days for the longest time.
She did handle it well. We've gotten 2 weeks out of sensors before but our problem is they don't stay on her. We use SkinTac before we put on the sensor and still by day 7, its half falling off. I then apply more SkinTac around the loose edges and try to get it back down. This was one of those cases where it just didn't want to stay so the sensor just wasn't good. Still need to work on her procedure of texting me when she treats a low. I certainly don't intend to check her readings all day, but I do get an alarm when she's low. I told her the procedure is just for her to text me and tell me she treated it. I told her and the teachers that if I get a low alarm and she doesn't tell me she's handled it, I'm calling the nurse to make sure she's ok.
Well, Emma just did her first site change at school. We've been trying to work it so they are mostly done at home. She did one last night that was ok overnight. But then she went up over 500 after breakfast. She texted me and said it was like she hadn't even dosed for breakfast, so she figured she should change her site. Changing her site is something she started doing herself this summer - it was the only thing (besides inserting a Dexcom which she can't do on the back on her arm) she hadn't been doing herself. So, she got herself a pass, went to the clinic and changed her site. Good decision making all around!
Same here. Wifi, even though they have it is selective as to where it wants to work. Add to it, they both keep their phones tucked away. But, they are in 10th now, so they are spreading their wings even farther in D care. They have a great rapport with nurse, who will contact me if needed. Good practice as they both go away for "winter session" for a week. No nurse, chaperone will only be a p.o.c. and they will be running the show themselves.
Well, I've learned that her science room and her band room neither get good reception - both are inside rooms with no windows. Of course, they are back to back. she also texted to say she had to change her insulin because she wouldn't make it through lunch after that huge correction she had to do. So, now I need to take insulin, a cartridge, syringe, and needle and a site and tubing to replenish. And because she had to fill her insulin, I HAVE to take it in. She can carry the other supplies to the nurse but not insulin - has to be a parent.
